


Fragments

by Gracefully



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, M/M, unsure of whether to post or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 02:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5988883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gracefully/pseuds/Gracefully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Babe saves Gene from himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fragments

**Author's Note:**

> One of the first baberoe things I wrote...for some reason I called gene Doc? warning: literal trash

Gene realizes two weeks after Christmas that he wants to die. As he thinks about it, he realizes that he doesn't necessarily want to die. He does not want hypothermia to catch up with him, or for a bullet to rip through his flesh, or for a stray piece of shrapnel to render his heartbeat inert.

No, Gene realizes that he wants what death now represents: freedom. Sure, it's still a defeat of sorts in war, but it is also the easiest ticket out of this frozen hellhole they call Bastogne. 

Gene knows that the cold and the loss around him is really getting to him, because he's legitimately considered blowing his own brains out. He's seen some of the other men snap, and Gene can see that it's happening to him, but desperately doesn't want to believe it. 

But then where would the rest of them be, screaming for a medic with only Ralph to answer? Gene realizes that if he died, he would be dragging many others into the ground with him. And Gene can't think of a more selfish act. 

It's the small things that end up saving him, the things he would generally look over. Things like Babe bringing Gene whatever medical supplies he can scrounge up when he brings a man to the aid station. Things like Babe pestering Gene, making sure he eats once a day and switches his socks out. Things like a pat to his helmet as Babe passes his shallow foxhole while on his way to his own. 

Babe is a bit of an enigma to Gene. More accurately, his interest in Gene is an enigma. Gene finds himself, instead of replaying deaths and wounds in his mind, pondering over what could have turned Babe to care so deeply for Gene. They weren't close friends (mostly because Gene chose to distance himself) and they never trained close together. The two never roomed together, and it wasn't as if Gene went out of his way to take care of the man. Well, maybe he did. 

Gene finds himself passing Babe's foxhole more times than anyone else's, giving him slightly more food, and even giving him chocolate. He finds himself making sure Babe is in line for food early, so he gets the hot stuff. Gene, overall, finds himself caring for the man way more than he rationally should. After all, everyone is fair game out in Bastogne, and literally every day is a chance for Babe to die. 

The thought makes Gene sick to his stomach. The thought of Babe’s eyes lifeless, blood splattered over his uniform and heartbeat inert... It’s enough to cause Gene’s breathing to falter. Then, as Babe leans his head against Gene’s shoulder as they huddle under a tarp together in a hole the precise size of a grave, Gene wonders what Babe thinks of him. What the thought of Gene dead does to Babe. 

So, he asks. “Well,” Babe says after a long pause. His voice is quiet, so quiet that Gene almost has to strain to hear even though they’re close together. “I worry about you. A lot. I worry that you’re gonna die out there while trying to save someone who’s past saving. I worry that the Germans won’t see your medical badge and shoot you.” Gene can hear the strain in his voice and he sits forward, looking keenly at Babe. Babe hastily wipes a tear away. 

“I feel the same way.” Gene barely breathes. “I hate, I absolutely hate the thought of losing you.” Babe laughs and leans forward so that their foreheads are pressing together. 

“In the highly unlikely event that we survive this hell, do you want to come back to Philly with me?” And suddenly, Gene sees a sort of reason to live through Bastogne. 


End file.
